Dear Editor,
Interesting front page story about the “war” on weeds in this past week’s edition (June 18-24) and the growing use of “economic poisons” as pesticides are known in the trade. Blockbuster products such as Monsanto’s Roundup have been exposed before.
If the state is not interested in reducing pesticide use that’s a shame. The writer mentions that applicators of “unsafe” pesticides require a license. The state collects a fee for said license. They also collect fees from commercial applicators, dealers and retailers. The Department of Agriculture also collects fees for registering each pesticide product – and there are thousands. Add up the fees and the sales taxes and while it’s not enough to run the department it’s not chicken feed either.
The huge volume of Roundup produced has created a systemic problem not unlike the oxycontin epidemic. It all ends up ‘in the water’ as uncontrollable excess. European countries can afford to stand up to giant companies but they pay a lot of taxes we would refuse to pay to run their governments.
The obvious solution here is organic farming and it’s working quite well in Vermont. Don’t expect too much help from the state.
Kip Dalury, Killington
